Under the Stars
by Cloudy Dreamcatcher
Summary: Rainflight, the black foal in a world without Nightwing or Star, faces challenges and threats with and without her Star Herd friends. Thornwing, the tyrannic over-stallion of Star Herd, begins sending pegasi on death missions, executing steeds who lose their battles, and banishing innocent foals. Can Rainflight survive to receive her starfire and free Anok from Thornwing?
1. Rainflight

**Please be sure to leave a review! Accepting OCs for the other herds! Thank you so much for reading!**

Rainflight glided over the small silver lake, letting her shiny black hooves skim the water. Gazing at her small reflection in the glassy lake she lost herself deep in thought. It was six moons until her first birthday, when she would become a yearling. Most foals would be excited to reach that stage, but Rainflight wasn't a normal pegasus. She was the black foal of Anok, born every hundred years. It was rare for the black foal to survive, but if they did, the over-stallion of the herd could decide whether to execute them or protect them. The reason for this was that on the day of their first birthday, the hundred year star would fill them with starfire, a power that could be used for good or evil. Rainflight wished the cruel leader of the herd, Thornwing, would hurry up and decide. She knew he would choose to kill her, but the tension of not knowing was unbearable.

"I caught you! You're my prisoner now!" Rainflight looked up in surprise. She had forgotten they were playing chase. She spotted Puddlenose hovering above her, sending light breezes her way. She nickered, landed on the ground, and submitted, letting her best friend guide her away to his 'prison'. They walked on hoof because Puddlenose wasn't strong enough to lift her. When they reached his hide-out, a gap in the trees, Rainflight burst out laughing at the sight of seven other foals, including her other best friend Rowansky, lying, prisoners, on the grass.

"You really are the fastest pegasus in Anok," Rainflight commented cheerily. Rowansky sighed.

"She's telling the truth!" admitted Rowansky. A glint appeared in her eyes and she winked at Rainflight. When Puddlenose and his newest captive, Rainflight, passed by Rowansky, she stealthily flung her aqua wings out. Rainflight dodged, but Puddlenose toppled over into the dirt.

"Hey!" he quickly regained his hooves and rattled his feathers in annoyance. He gaped in surprise at the suddenly empty clearing. "Where did you all-"

Rowansky gave the signal from a tree she was hiding in. The eight foals dived on poor Puddlenose, who didn't stand a chance. "Hey! Got off!" he mumbled through a mouthful of feathers. The foals relaxed, and he admitted defeat, while spitting out clumps of down.

A trumpeting rang from the meadow nearby. It was a calm blast, so Rainflight and her friends knew it was grazing time. The other six foals trotted into the air and lazily glided away. The three friends laughed for a long time, until, finally, chests aching and teary eyed, they galloped into the air to catch up with the others.

Later that night, Rainflight silently flew to the crest of a hill facing the full moon. She stood gazing quietly at the stars, considering her options. If she stayed in Star Herd, the chances of her being executed were high. But if she left, she would live the rest of her life alone, unless of course cold, hunger, predators, enemy steeds or worse killed her.

"Hey."

Rainflight looked away from the silver balls of light. Embarrassed, she noticed a small cluster of white flowers. She wasn't aware she'd been crying. Another gift the black foal has is that whenever their tears hit the ground, tiny white flowers spring up.

Puddlenose nudged her. "Don't think about it," he said, as if he'd been reading her mind.

"What else is there to do?" choked Rainflight.

"Let Thornwing decide your fate, and live life to the fullest, whether that be long or short."

"You and I both know Thornwing will choose to kill me," Rainflight pointed out dryly. Puddlenose's eyes lit up.

"Unless someone kills him first," Puddlenose replied smoothly.

"Don't say that!" scolded Rainflight. But inside, the pressure dissolved and she realized she was on the verge of falling asleep. "Let's go back to the meadow," she yawned.

"Let's," agreed Puddlenose.


	2. Nightmare

**Thanks for reading! If you haven't read The Guardian Herd series by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, be sure to check it out!**

As soon as Rainflight fell asleep, she was pulled into a nightmare.

" _Hurry," warned a stallion next to her. Cold, terrified, and only two days old, she stumbled after the large silver pegasus, following him into an open meadow inbetween the five territories. The stallion pointed his wing at a small dip in the field. "Wait there," he ordered. Then he glided into the sky, and Rain, her name at the time, watched him until he disappeared. That stallion never returned. Rain wandered the meadow for three days, unable to eat the coarse, bitter grass and longing for her mother and her delicious milk._

 _On the third night, when she was sick with hunger and exhaustion, she opened her eyes to find six full-grown stallions standing around her. Confused, she sprang to her hooves but immediately collapsed again._

" _The black foal!" she heard them whispering. "She should be dead!"_

 _The youngest of the pegasi piped up, "Didn't a bear kill her?" There was an excited chattering between five of the pegasi, until the oldest spoke up._

" _Since we discovered her on our border, and Snow Herd clearly has not cared for her, we will take her to Thornwing to decide her fate," he declared. The other stallions didn't protest, and followed the oldest into the sky. Two grabbed Rain's wings and carried her with them. Rain blacked out._

Rainflight woke up, shivering. That was how she had come to Star Herd. When she was older, Bluerain, the medicine mare who was still only a yearling, pulled her aside and filled in the gaps for her.

 _She had been born to Snow Herd. Secretly, Mothwing had ordered a stallion named Winterblaze to steal her from the herd in the night and kill her deep in the wilderness. Winterblaze had obeyed and taken her out to the meadow inbetween the herds. But unlike Mothwing, he had faith the black foal was the healer, and spared her._

 _Mothwing, not aware of Winterblaze's change of heart, sent out messengers reporting that the black foal had been killed by a bear._

 _A few days later, one of Star Herd's captains, Froststorm, and his patrol had found her and taken her to Thornwing. The over-stallion agreed to keep her, but he couldn't make up his mind with what to do with her._

 _Winterblaze, the Snow Herd stallion who betrayed Mothwing, was killed by a Snow Herd envoy while hiding in the Vein._

Fogflight, one of the foals she played with, woke up when Rainflight accidentally brushed her with her wing. "What is it?" she asked sleepily.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep," Rainflight said quietly. The filly didn't hesitate and was soon deeply asleep.

Rainflight curled up against a young tree and tried to sleep until morning.


	3. Cloud Flight

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you have any suggestions, comments, or questions.**

A moon had passed in Anok, and Thornwing still hadn't decided Rainflight's fate. The summer migration was tomorrow. They would be flying to cooler meadows for the seething summer months.

Tonight they would become weanlings. The herd couldn't have nursing foals traveling. Once they were weanlings, they would stop drinking milk and graze like adults. They would also be granted permission to soar above the treetops and into the fluffy white clouds.

"I can't wait!" squealed Rowansky excitedly. Puddlenose and Rainflight nodded their agreement, while Mossyshade and Ivytail, twins, flew dizzy circles around them. Fogflight picked at the grass.

"I wonder what clouds are like," Fogflight sighed dreamily.

"Soft?" suggested Rowansky.

Rainflight shook her head. "Wet," she argued. Puddlenose agreed with her.

Ivytail shivered. "I hope not! I hate being wet!" Mossyshade's brother tended to avoid water at all costs.

Rainflight changed the subject. "I can't wait to see your faces when you start grazing," she said joyfully. "You'll hate it!" The other foals glared at her. Rainflight had been grazing since she was a few days old. No mare in Star Herd was willing to give her milk, and those who were didn't have any. Berryfrost, Ivytail and Mossyshade's dam, had taught her to eat the bitter stems when she was young.

"I'm going to miss Whitemist's milk!" complained Fogflight unhappily.

"Of course you are. You're still a foal," taunted a newcomer. A palomino filly with pale pink wings landed next to them. "My dam made me a weanling two days ago."

"That's great, Blossomstep," Ivytail muttered sarcastically. Blossomstep, the daughter of Thornwing and Browncloud, pretended not to hear him.

"Of course, you only started grazing early because no one wanted you," Blossomstep hurled the words in Rainflight's face. Rainflight felt her stomach lurch. She took a deep breath.

"And you only started early because you're the over-stallion's daughter," Rainflight said cooly. Blossomstep huffed and lifted off, flying high into the clouds to tease them.

Earlier that morning, Rainflight had asked Berryfrost how the foals would become weanlings. Berryfrost had laughed and whispered the secret to her. Now, Rainflight nickered quietly as the foals dashed off to get one last drink of milk. In their haste, they forgot their wings. Rainflight soared above them, landing next to the group of mares. Rainflight and her friends' dams seemed to relish the moment.

Puddlenose darted forward. Skystorm, his dam, dodged him. The other foals frantically tried to get at the milk, but the mares simply lifted into the air and watched gleefully as the young foals struggled to realize that they had just been weaned.

Rainflight couldn't stop laughing, watching her friends' confused faces. Finally, they stopped trying to get to their dams. The mares landed, giddy. They only got so much fun in their lives.

Rainflight munched away on the succulent green grass. She saw her friends watching her uncertainly, and looked up. "Aren't you going to eat?" With unpleasant faces, the new weanlings filled their stomachs with grass, bitter after their diet of sweet milk.

The sun sank on the horizon, and the pegasi started falling asleep. Unable to wait until morning to fly through her first cloud, Rainflight swiftly soared out of the clump of sleeping pegasi and into the warm night sky. Unsure of how to approach her first cloud, she tentatively extended a hoof, closed her eyes, and touched it. She squealed in surprise when her hoof was instantly covered in moisture. She had been right! Water dripped from the tips of her hoof into the field far below. One lucky droplet spattered Puddlenose, and he sleepily opened his eyes. Rainflight gasped and darted into a large cloud, giggling as the white mist turned into liquid on impact. Puddlenose slipped away from his sleeping dam and lifted into the sky, swiveling his ears and looking around. "I saw that," he said. Rainflight squeaked and ducked back behind the cloud.

Puddlenose angled his wings and dove into the cloud she was behind. "Gotcha!" he called as he hurtled toward her hiding place. Rainflight quickly flew up above the cloud, and watched as he blasted through it, and into thin air. "Ack!" He shook his mane and looked around. "It is wet. Where did you go?"

"Up here," she taunted from another cloud. "Catch me if you can!"

"Oh, it's on," he agreed. The two weanlings shot through the sky, having the most fun they'd had in their lives. Eventually, the noise of their play woke Fogflight, Ivytail, Mossyshade, and Rowansky. The six of them played chase and hosted loop-de-loop contests in the middle of the night. Right as they were about to start a race, Mossyshade, the referee, literally toppled out of the sky in terror. She regained her wings and flew towards them, a look of horror on her face. The six weanlings flew towards the edge of the cloudbank. Rainflight gasped. All of the dams were staring back at them.


	4. Migration

The mares burst out laughing at their horrified faces. "Don't worry," Berryfrost reassured them. "I remember my first cloud flight. I must have woken up half the herd!"

Nervously, the weanlings flew down from the cloud bank and touched down on solid ground. "Now you're all wet!" scolded Skystorm.

Puddlenose looked embarrassed. He ducked his head.

"We'll go to sleep now!" Fogflight promised. Rainflight nodded her head.

"I won't make you, but we do have a long flight ahead of us," Berryfrost pointed out.

The weanlings quickly fell asleep at the thought.

A gentle wing nudged Rainflight. She saw a glimmer of magenta. "It's time," she whispered. Rainflight stumbled to her feet. Rowansky and Puddlenose were hovering nearby, and Rainflight could feel their nervous excitement. Only a few pegasi were still on the ground.

"They're leaving!" exclaimed Rowansky. "We have to hurry!"

"We're coming, we're coming," the mares yawned, lifting off and steadily moving towards the herd.

"Are we really going to go at their pace?" hissed Rowansky. Rainflight glanced at the distant crowd of pegasi.

"No way."

"Is it a race?" Puddlenose asked. They nodded simultaneously.

Rowansky counted down. "Three, two, one…"

"Go!" they roared, shooting towards the migrating herd.

Puddlenose quickly took the lead, his blue feathers flashing in the sunlight. Rainflight stayed

close behind, pumping her powerful black wings.

"Slow down," gasped Rowansky. Puddlenose and Rainflight rolled their eyes, but waited for their friend to catch up.

"I'm more brains then brawn," she huffed. They continued their race, working their way into the middle of the herd. They saw three pegasi, orange with yellow wings, chestnut with magenta wings, and pale cream with aqua wings.

"There's Orangemoon," Rowansky said, pointing her wing at her dam.

"And Skystorm," Puddlenose added, squinting at the cream mare.

" _And_ Berryfrost," added Rainflight. "We were way faster than them!"

Her friends nodded agreement.

A few minutes later, Berryfrost flew towards Rainflight. "Rainflight, come with me." They hastily dropped to land unnoticed to talk. "I overheard Thornwing talking. He's positive every black foal will become the destroyer." she sighed.

"So he'll kill me?" Rainflight whispered, feeling her heart sink.

"He wants to. But I won't let him. You need to run away," Berryfrost said.

Rainflight's heart started beating faster. "When?"

"Now."

"Why now? I have to say goodbye to Rowansky and Puddlenose!" Rainflight cried, her voice rising to a wail.

"He wants to kill you tomorrow night, Rainflight! It's the only way to keep you alive." Berryfrost admitted.

"Where will I go?"

"You must hide somewhere far from here. Return after you have received your starfire," Berryfrost instructed. "Thornwing's captains will guard you if they see you again. Now go! I will tell them your wings cramped and you fell into Shimmer Lake," Berryfrost gestured to the silver lake nearby.

"Goodbye!" cried Rainflight, thrusting her muzzle into Berryfrost's mane. Berryfrost's tears fell on her own snow-white flowers.

She began galloping towards the tall mountains, hoping to maintain a hiding place for a few days.


	5. In Hiding

**So sorry for the late update guys! Hope you enjoy!**

Rainflight, exhausted, galloped through Star Herd territory. How long had it been? Probably hours. Eventually her legs collapsed out from under her and she hit the ground in a meadow full of tall grass that hid her black body.

The filly had been forced to travel on hoof. She would be in trouble if the migrating Star Herd spotted her, and flying would have made it too easy.

Trembling, Rainflight stood up and made her way to a shady crevice in the nearby hills. _Six months to go,_ she thought wearily. Sweat dripped off of her glossy hide, and she paused a moment to focus on evening out her ragged breathing.

Rainflight needed to sort out her thoughts, but everything was blurred by emotion. After having a moment to process the events from today, she let the tears fall freely. She'd never been good at holding in her emotions, and now, out of sight from the world, she let the sobs shake her tired body.

"Why me?" Rainflight yelled, directing her question at no one but the birds twittering outside. "Why did I have to be the black foal?"

The words throbbed in her mind, driving her crazy with confusion and weakness. _I just need sleep._ Rainflight lay down in a comfortable position, watching the sunset through the cracks of her hideaway. _I wonder what Star Herd is doing. Probably resting for the night. I hope Rowansky and Puddlenose aren't sad about my 'death'._

Rainflight tried to focus on planning out her next moves, but exhaustion overcame her and she slipped into a restless sleep.

 _Blood spattered Rainflight's dark wings. The weanling recoiled, blinking away the darkness. Figures came into view. A muscular palomino stallion with cruel, dark eyes was standing triumphantly over a twisted black body._

 _Rainflight stepped forward, feeling her gut twist. The stallion, Thornwing, smiled silkily at shadowy figures. Rainflight guessed it was Star Herd. Cautiously she bent down and stared in horror at the battered filly._ It's me! _Rainflight realized, springing back in fear. Turning away from the violent scene, she rushed away into the darkness._

Rainflight woke up, feeling refreshed but ravenous. Stretching her wings, she got to her hooves and emerged into the warm morning sunlight. It was just after dawn, and there wasn't a pegasus in sight. She sighed, remembering yesterday's journey and last night's dream. Shaking her head to clear the depressing thoughts from her mind, she grazed on the long, untouched grass of the hidden meadow.

"I think it's safe for me to fly," the black foal nickered to a bird high above her. "Wouldn't you say?"

The tiny bird twittered softly. Rainflight nodded. "Okay, I'll fly."

Full of energy and eager to go, she had to restrain herself from galloping into the air and seeing where the wind took her. Rainflight needed a plan.

"I could go to Snow Herd, and see if Mothwing would spare me," Rainflight said to the little bird, who had begun hopping around on the ground, pecking at bugs. "I doubt it, though. He wanted me dead in the first place."

Rainflight paced, trampling the tall, sweet grass. "I can't go back to Star Herd, of course. I would go to Crabwing's Bay, like Star did, but I think I would be found for sure."

The great Star, namesake of Star Herd, was a legend. He lived hundreds of years ago, but Rainflight admired him and hoped she could follow in his hoofprints.

"I'm going to be the healer," she whinnied. "Just like Star!"

With that, she kicked off into the pale-blue sky, the perfect destination in mind.

 **Thank you and shoutout to**

 **DragonWriterGirl112**

 **and everyone else who reviewed my story!**

 **Just for fun- here's a little Q &A!**

 **Do you think Rainflight will be the healer? Do you think she'll survive that long?**

 **Where do you think Rainflight should hide out for the next six months?**

 **Do you think Thornwing will believe Berryfrost and consider the black foal dead, or will he search for her?**


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